3rd Day in Haiti

We spent our 3rd day in Archaea its out in the country and we passed the beautiful ocean on the way there. It was a couple hour drive to get there. I'm not sure how long it would have taken if the roads were smooth and clear of traffic, markets, and animals :-)

This was our most challenging day. I was nervous because I had to teach for the first time. During the teaching we had a lot of people standing up and asking questions that didn't really pertain to what we were teaching. Later on we were told that it was an older more traditional church and some of the members were trying to talk doctrine with us. Instead of about the tools we were sharing with them. It made me smile a bit because it reminded me of my experiences with some "trouble makers" or people "stuck in their ways" that i've met in churches throughout the years here in the States. The smile came as I realized how not so different the churches in Haiti are from those here in the U.S.

I was happy to see the youth in the church excited about ministry. One was proud of his role in the church (to tell the children to be quiet and listen) We were talking about how everyone has a different shape for ministry. The body is made up of different parts and each to do a specific thing.
 I was also able to share my testimony with the worship leader of the church the day before when we visited. My job was teaching on how to share your story. So the fact that he asked me my story the day before I had to teach was cool. It was God preparing me and telling me that I could do it. Because I was really nervous.

Day 4 in Haiti I will talk about another church we visited and how different it was from the one in Archaea.

Archaea as I mentioned in an earlier blog had children that played a lot more rough than the other area's we were at. It was challenging for our teens who were doing the children's teaching and games. But they did an awesome job!

 We did not get pictures of people teaching (that turned out) so I've just posted a few pictures from that day. There were some area's that had large puddles we had to drive through. (you will see in a picture) But it didn't rain once while we were there. It was very dry and dusty the whole time so we were wondering how that water got there and stayed there all week!

None of the tents below had been there before the quake. These are all displaced people.

The schools advertised with disney characters!

2nd day in Haiti

The plan for the 2nd day was to see the progress of the orphanage, the school and the church concerning their construction. All three were in different locations. So it was a lot of driving. We were able to see a bit of the city and the country all in this day. We got to see a nice view of the ocean.  Again the driving in Haiti is nothing you can quite explain without being there. Lots of bumps, swerves, honks and dust.

We stopped at a location where there were thousands of people buried after the quake. It was an emotional moment for me as I stood there with our Haitian brother and sister looking at all the crosses. My heart hurt for all those who were lost in the quake and their families left behind. Below are a few pictures from that location: 

I was impressed with how much they had of the school done. We played some games with these children. A few began to flick our ears and hit us trying to get us to "play fight" back. It wasn't something we were expecting. They seemed to be doing whatever they could to get our attention. It was actually a bit painful. Eventually we were able to get them to stop. I was so proud of our teen girls who spent most of their time with the children. They handled them well and shared the love of Jesus with them!
Below are a few pictures from that site:

We visited Pastor Rene's church in Delmas. The building was in the process of being cleared away after being torn down. It was cracked due to the quake and had to be rebuilt. Brian drew up the plans for the new church while we were there.


While at that site Terrie on our team saw the Scripture 2 Chronicles 7:14 on a man's shirt. Just a short while later she found pages of a creole Bible laying in the rubble and it was the section that had 2 Chronicles 7:14 in it. It was definitely a God moment. The scripture reads:
 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.


While at that church we taught some of the kids there how to play kickball. It was hard for them to get the hang of it. They didn't understand that we were trying to get people out. They just enjoyed kicking and running the bases. 


Below are some pictures of the Delmas church site. 

Below is the progress being made on the orphanage: 

After our long day of traveling and visiting the different area's meeting the pastor's and people we would be teaching. We went back to Pastor Rene's home for dinner and to discuss our action plan for the next day. We debriefed on the roof and looked forward to the next day of teaching at the country church.

First day in Haiti.

 Let me share some specific details of our trip.

Our flight got delayed and we had no choice but to take a flight to Miami and stay the night there making us arrive in Haiti one day late. At that point were not sure if it was for protection or opportunity or both. But we knew it was part of God's plan. In Miami Amber and I sat with a man at breakfast (because we didn't see anywhere else to sit) We learned he was a Christian and originally from Honduras. I was in Honduras for a mission trip a couple years ago. Since he came to live in the states he served our country in the military.  And he said his church supported missionaries in Haiti. It was interesting hearing part of his life story and sharing with a brother in Christ.
The only reason he was at that hotel was because he had a plane problem too and was on his way to celebrate his 40th anniversary with his wife but was delayed. It was a "coincidence" that we both had plane difficulties and ended up eating breakfast together.

When we arrived in Haiti we were greeted by some Haitians playing music as we exited the plane. After going through immigration we saw Pastor Rene waiting for us. We were very thankful because it was very chaotic. It took us a while to find our luggage that they had spread out all over the floor of the small airport. Pastor Rene picked a few people to help us with our luggage. As we were trying to leave we got pulled aside and the airport security starting opening our bags and going through them all. I'm guessing it was because there were 7 of us and 13 bags it probably looked suspicious. Pastor Rene talked to them and they stopped looking through our bags. We were thankful for the connections he has with people!

Our walk from the airport to the car was interesting. It of course was HOT and we had several people pushing their way to us trying to take our luggage for us so that we would tip them. But Pastor Rene had already picked the men to help us. It was challenging trying to communicate not knowing the language and they sure wouldn't take no for an answer.

The car ride was a typical one you would find in a developing country. VERY bumpy VERY busy! Lots of honking and no attention to road signs (if there were any) no lines on the roads and if there were no one paid attention to them. My window was down and I was sitting in the front passenger seat. A woman with a baby came up to us asking for money. And another man came to the window trying to sell us things. Something we would experience all week.

It was so hot that when we got up out of the van the back of our shorts were soaked with sweat and it looked like we wet ourselves!

We were so thankful and surprised to see Pastor Rene's home. It seemed very safe and we would have running water, toilets and good cooking by his wife and staff.  Most of all they provided us with safe drinking water. (it was not from the tap) We could not brush our teeth or open our mouthes in the shower with the water from the tap. We climbed a ladder and spent some time on the roof cooling off and looking at the view. Wondering what the week would have in-store for us.

Below with all our bags in Miami

Below is a couple picture at the Miami Hotel 

To the right is us getting our stuff in the van in Haiti. You can see a few of the people who tried to take over and help with our luggage.

My trip to Haiti

I cannot possibly begin to describe our trip to Haiti in a mere blog. Even with an amazing video presentation our team will never be able to quite explain, the smells, the emotions, the God moments, or the faces we encountered.

I was at first disappointed when I realized only 7 people would be going after over 20 expressed interest. Now that I am back I understand why God led only the 7 of us to go. Its not the type of trip for a large group. The conditions are very challenging and not everyone would fare well. Its not exactly the place to choose for your first time out of the country. (it was the first time out of the country for 3 of our teammates and first time flying for 2)

Everyone did splendidly. Now we did have our breakdown moments (some publicly, some privately) But God specifically picked each one of us for this trip and had been preparing us for it our whole lives. I am so proud of everyone on the team!

It will almost be a week since I've been back and I'm still struggling with my retrospective thoughts on the trip. I am thinking about the future and what God has in store for us as we partner with Pastor Rene in Haiti. But it is still a lot to process all we were exposed to, involved with and experienced in that short week.

We sensed God working and Haiti being on the verge of something huge.  Its crazy to know that we a bunch of nobody's and all those that supported us and prayed for us were used by God to be a part of just the beginnings of the re-birth of Haiti.

Haiti seems hopeless to so many. But God let us see a glimpse of His hope and His plan for Haiti. Its going to be the Haitians with God's help that change their country. I am so excited that we were able to share with them some tools to help them help themselves!!

I will post more specific details of the trip later.